Officially introduced by the Houston Rockets, he was sitting at the podium and fielding questions from reporters. One asked whether a championship was the bar of success for the team. It was Howard's chance to take the microphone and go LeBron James on the question, promising two, three, four, five titles.

Howard, wisely, passed. “I am not gonna get up here and say we’re gonna we five championships,” he said. “I am not gonna do that. But I think if we really dedicate ourselves and sacrifice everything we got for a championship, at the end of the season, we should be holding up the trophy.”

Howard finally signed his contract on Saturday, and in doing so, marked the end of his two-year, three-team free-agency saga. It began in 2011, just after the end of the lockout, with a murky trade demand lodged with the Magic; it sped through a disastrous season in Los Angeles; and it finished up with a five-team derby that spanned the first two days of the free agency period.

In contrast to the hoopla that followed the signing of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami back in the summer of 2010, the Rockets’ affair was much more restrained. The team did welcome back several legends to celebrate Howard’s arrival, including famed big men Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming. But no one was promising trophies for the Rockets.

Indeed, one of the aspects of the deal that seemed to most appeal to Howard was starting over in a new city under much less pressure than he was subjected to in his stint with the Lakers. In Orlando, Howard was known for his ever-present smile, but over the last two years, as things fell apart with the Magic and got worse in Los Angeles, that smile has been harder to locate.

“I made this decision for me,” Howard said. “I really want to be happy. Like you said earlier, if you can’t be happy when you’re playing then it’s not fun. I just want to get back to being that guy who is having fun and enjoying basketball, but at the same time dominating. I did that with a smile on my face. There’s nothing wrong with doing that.”

Howard is actually hoping that there will be some positives to come out of the grind of the last two years. He said that over that time, he had to learn how to stay focused on the court. He’s hoping to take that into his new role in the middle for the Rockets, and he said that having a coach like Kevin McHale—a Hall of Fame big man—is going to help.

“It’s all mental for me,” Howard said. “(McHale) is going to do a good job of making sure I am ready every night. But I am also going to make sure I keep a level head. A lot of guys are always going to attack me, try to get me off my game. But in order to lead these guys, I have to make sure that I stay level and I stay centered in myself. I think that is the biggest thing. All the other stuff will come. ... I think throughout the last two years, I have really had to develop thick skin, which is going to really help me this season.”

Now for the Rockets, the question becomes how the rest of the roster comes together. As it stands, Houston figures to be among the top four teams in the Western Conference, but general manager Daryl Morey figures to have more hole-filling maneuvers on the way. Until then, though, Howard said he is planning on starting his work with McHale on Monday.

And he’s making no title guarantees. “Our goal is to win a championship and that’s what we’re going to strive for every day,” he said. “And we know that it takes a lot to win a championship, it doesn’t just happen just because guys come together. We’re willing to go out there and give it our all. I just can’t wait to get out there with these guys.”